A man house sitting for a friend in the hospital perished when flames swept an historic building on Sandpit Road late last night.

47-year-old Scott Cramer was found inside, unconscious. He was pronounced dead on arrival at UMMC.

Grant Whitmore lives nearby. He spotted the fire and ran to help:

"I was hoping he was outside anbd when I didn't see him I started hollering for him. I opened the door and saw a fire extinguisher. I tried to knock the flames down but they just flared up again."

Authorities believe an electrical problem started the fire.

The building, known simply as the “old school house” was built in 1850.

The Batavia City Council meets tonight.

Lawmakers will hold two public hearings.

The first hearing is on the amended city budget. That financial plan now calls for a property tax decrease of about 13-percent.

A second hearing changes the city’s Solid Waste ordinance.

Individual property owners will now be required to contract privately for trash pick-up.

The city’s contract with the ARC has been extended until the end of May.

A fracas at the Days Inn lands a Bethany man in jail.

Batavia Police report that they were called to the Days Inn on Oak Street early Sunday morning to handle some unruly guests.

One of those guests, 22-year-old Andrei Sliker of Bethany, allegedly tried to punch the hotel’s manager.

Sliker was locked up on charges of harassment and disorderly conduct.

An arrest has been made in connection with a series of thefts of high voltage wire in LeRoy and Rochester.

Police have charged 28-year-old Michael Nicometo with burglary, grand larceny and criminal mischief. The first theft occurred last June at a warehouse in LeRoy, where the wires were cut between the building and the transformer while the power was still on.

Several similar thefts occurred in LeRoy and Rochester between last October and February of this year, with the total value of stolen items over $50,000.